Lath-carrying device for paper-drying machines.



N0- 629,696. 6 Pate nted m 25, I899. s. n. LIBERTY.

LATH CARRYING DEVICE FOR PAPE B DRY ING MACHINES.

(Application filed June 28, 1898.)

1N0 Model.)

INVENTOR fiww M 1y: Nonms PETERS co, whcrwumo, wAsuwcYcu. a. c

UNITED STATES PATENT Prion,

SAUL R. LIBERTY, or NASHUA, NEW HAMPSHIRE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 629,696, dated July 25,1899.

' Application filed June 23,1898. Serial No. 684,248. (No model.)

T0 coil whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, SAUL R. LIBERTY, a citizen of the United States,residing at Nashua, in the county of Hillsborough and State of NewHampshire, have invented certain new and useful Improvements inLath-Carrying Devices for Paper-Drying Machines; and I do hereby declarethe following to be a full, clear,

It also consists in providing a lath-carrying pulleys or rollers, as b17 Adjacent to the device with belts having feeding projections formedthereon, lath-accumulating hoppers for holding and feeding out thelaths, and a smooth belt for assisting in accumulating the laths in oneof the said hoppers.

It also consists in certain other novel constructions, combinations, andarrangements of parts, as will be hereinafter described and claimed.

In the accompanying drawings,Figure 1 represents a central longitudinalsection through a lath-carrying device constructed in accord I ance withmy invention, and Fig. 2 represents a top plan view of the same.

Lath-carrying devices have been used here tofore which are adapted tofeed laths forward for supporting paper which has been colored orprovided with some ornamental configuration. Such machines, however,should be provided with means for feeding more than one style of lath tothe paper and should be also provided with means for accumulating thelaths at different points for this purpose. Vith these points in view Ihave designed my present invention, in which I employ main drying-belts,as A, mounted side by side upon suitable pulleys or rollers, as a a. Thebelts A are preferably two in number, so as to support the laths at eachend thereof. One end of the belts A is located near the top of a chuteor hopper, as a into which the papersupporting slats from the belts Awill be dropped after they have traveled the full length of the saidbelts. This chute or hop per extends downwardly from the rollers orpulleys or toward another pair of belts, as B. The belts B arehorizontally arranged at the foot of the hopper a and are provided withlugs or projections 79. The chute or hopper a is so constructed that theslats may be removed one at a time from the bottom thereof in onedirection. To effect this purpose, one side of the hopper is cut away,as at a so as to leave a space between it and the belts B a littlegreater than the thickness or width of a slat. As the slats O accumulatein the hopper a they pile up one upon the other, and upon giving motionto the belts B the lugs 11 will engage the lowest slat in the hopper andmove it out from beneath the rest, carrying it forward toward the otherend of the machine. The belts B are mounted upon belts B another pair ofbelts D are mounted, one end of the said belts being also supported andoperated by means of the pulleys or rollers b the other end of the saidbelts being supported by pulleys or rollers d. The belts D arepreferably made without any engaging projections or lugs, so that theslats which rest upon them are adapted to be moved forward by theirfrictional contact with the said belts only. At one end of the belts Dis arranged a stationary support, as at E, which leads to a pair ofbelts, as F, which are slightly inclined and are provided withfeeding-lugs, as f. The support B allows the slats tobe fed forwardtoward the belts F, and the lower end of the said support is constructedlike the lower end of the hopper a When the belt Ftravels upon itssupporting-rollers, its lugs f will engage one slat at a time and carryit forward in the machine. Interposed between one end of the pair ofbelts F and the pair of belts A are a pair of inclined lifting-belts G,

mounted upon the rollers or pulleys a and g.

A curved guide, as at g, is mounted at the lower ends of the belts G andextends toward the belts F in such a manner that it will receive theslats from the said belts. The belts G are also provided with lugs, as 9so that when the said belts are actuated the lugs will engage the slatsO, which are fed upon the guide g by means of the belts F, and willhoist or lift them tothe belts A. It is preferable to keep the beltsDquite taut, and for this purpose I employ one or more rollers, as d,which are carried by one end of a lever, as C1 The said lever ispreferably fulcrumed upon any suitable standard, as at (i and carries atits lower end a weight, as d. It will be readily seen that the tendencyof the weight 01 is to lift the rollers 01 against the belts D, and thushold the belts practically taut. This causes the upper sides of thebelts to be kept nearly in a straight line at all times.

From the above description it will be seen that the slats as they arefed to the belts A are adapted to receive the festoons of paper from thecoloring-machine and to support the same in loops to give them anopportunity to dry. The belts A are preferably made of great length,generally about two hundred feet. When the slats reach the ends of thebelts A, they will drop from the end of the paper into acollecting-hopper (1. the paper being removed by any suitable mechanismfrom that end of the machine. When it is desired to feed the slats tothe belts A from the support or hopper E, the belts F are set in motionand carry the slats from the said supports E forward to the guide 9.Thence they are raised to the belts A by means of the belts G. Then itis desired to feed the slats from the hopper a the belts B and D are setin motion, by which means the slats are removed one by one from thehopper a and fed forward upon the support E. Thence they may be removedby the belts F and G, as jus described.

The belts may be all moved by the same mechanism, so as to Worksimultaneously, or they may be operated by separate and independentmeans, if desired, so that any one of them may be stopped, if required.The guide g may be provided with one or more springs, as 9 for causingthe slats to be engaged more perfectly by the lugs of the belts G, andthus insure their being fed forward at the proper time.

One of the important features of my invention consists in the providingof two or more hoppers orcollectors for holding the slats, as sometimesit is desirable to feed difierent kinds of slats for different kinds ofpaper. For this purpose different kinds of slats may ceases beaccumulated at E from those accumulated at (L The smooth belts D alsoform an important feature of my invention, as they assist in feeding theslats forward upon the support E by frictional contact with the saidslats, and not being provided with lugs will be capable of movingforward after the slats are held stationary by being brought againstthose in front of them.

As the belts are long, I propose to use any suitable or convenientdevice for keeping them straight as to their working surfaces. Thetransfer of the slats from the lower belt to the lifting-belt also formsa novel feature of my invention and produces a simpler and less costlyway of accomplishing this result than has heretofore been in use.

Having now described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire tosecure by Letters Patent, is-

1. In a lath-carrying device for paper-drying machines, the combinationwith papersupporting belts, and a hopper for accumulatin g laths forsupporting the paper, of belts having lugs for removing the laths fromsaid hopper, smooth belts for accumulating the laths, and supplying thelaths from the second hopper, springs mounted in the said guidespreventing the return of the laths and insuring their contact with thelugs of lifting-belts, belts having lugs for transferring the laths tothe said guide, and belts having lugs for lifting the laths to thepaper-supporting belts, substantially as described.

2. In alath-carrying device for paper-dry ing machines, the combinationwith belts having lugs for feeding paper-supporting slats or lathsforward, hoppers for feeding the said laths, a guide interposed betweentwo of the said belts for directing the slats from one to the other, andsprings mounted in the said guides preventing the return of the slatsand insuring the proper contact of the lugs of the belts with the slatsor laths, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I hereunto affix my signature in presence of twowitnesses.

SAUL R. LIBERTY.

lVitnesses:

R. T. SMITH, S. J. M. SMITH.

